The Other World
by JokertheMatrix
Summary: Supernatural Creatures AU. When Damyan decides to visit the other part of town, he ends up meeting Nicolae. The two become friends, but it's obvious that Nicolae's hiding things from him. Rated T for swearing among other things. Part 1 of a series of four fics


_A short series I felt like writing. The first of four fics. Each part will be uploaded one day at a time._

_Starting the year with a ship I actually really like and needs more love. At any rate, hope you enjoy and Happy New Year's guys! Thanks for being such great readers and putting up with my hiatuses and stuff!_

_Warning: Swearing and failed British swearing_

_I used Google Translate, so please correct me if anything is wrong!_

**Hetalia and its characters are not mine**

* * *

Damyan looked at the bridge, the lamplights illuminating the wooden path. He looked up. Fog rolled around ominously at the other side. He stepped onto the bridge hesitantly. There was a nagging feeling on the back of his mind that he shouldn't be doing this, but curiosity triumphed over his fear.

_That wasn't too bad... _Damyan thought as he stepped off the bridge. He was standing on a dirt path, trees on either side of him. For whatever reason, the lamplights on either side of the bridge weren't working. To make things worse, the fog obscured his vision, making it hard for him to see two feet ahead. _I don't see why everyone makes such a fuss about this place though. Seems harmless enough, minus this drat fog... _There was a rustling noise nearby. _Although in hindsight, maybe I should've gone during the day instead... Or at least brought a flashlight..._

Something tugged at his shirt. Damyan jumped back in shock. He looked to his side to see a small kid looking up at him, wide red blood eyes staring up at him. "Bună seara!"

"Err... hi?" Damyan bent down to face the boy eye-to-eye. He had dark hair with two little pieces of hair sticking out at the sides, a tiny black hat sitting haphazardly on the left side of his head. He was wearing a shabby fur coat far too big for him, one that reached up to his knees. "What are you doing here all by yourself?"

"I live here." Damyan couldn't help but notice that the boy had two small fangs as he spoke. "People don't come here often... Or at least, my brother doesn't let me see them."

"I'm guessing here, but he's your older brother?" The boy nodded. "Then where is he? I'm sure he's worried about you in a fog like this."

The boy tilted his head in thought. "Follow me." Before Damyan could reply, the little boy scurried into the fog. Without thinking, Damyan began to follow him.

Before long, Damyan found himself standing in front of a gate. What lay beyond the gate was lost on him, but if he had to guess...

"A graveyard?" Damyan peered through the gate, trying to see what lay beyond it other than faint gravestone silhouettes. "Why would your brother be in a graveyard?"

"We live here," the boy said simply as he opened the gate. "Come on, I'll bring you to my brother."

"All right." While following a small child into a graveyard amidst a thick fog didn't seem like such a smart idea, the kid seemed harmless enough. _But, push comes to shove..._ "Wait first." Damyan bent down to pick up a stick that was (lucky for him) laying around. "Okay, lead on."

The boy nodded, not even bothering to question Damyan's actions. The boy skipped on ahead, occasionally looking back to see if Damyan was still following him. Damyan tried to look around, but it was futile with the fog this thick- thicker, now that he thought about it. Despite the fact Damyan could barely see in front of him, he could see the boy crystal clear.

Suddenly, the fog disappeared. It was like a barrier was keeping the fog away, creating a circular clearing around them. There were some gravestones, but his eyes instantly went to the figure in the middle of the clearing. A young man was sitting on a gravestone, his back towards them. He had strawberry blonde hair with a small black top hat on the right side of his head, the color matching with his long coat and pants. His face was angled upwards towards the full moon.

"Brother!" The young man turned towards the boy.

"Andrei, where were you?" The young man got off the gravestone and ran to the boy, picking him up once he was close enough. "Hey, don't wander off on me again like that, okay?"

"Okay!" The boy- Andrei, apparently- pointed to Damyan. "Look, I found a human! And he's nice too!"

The young man froze. He put down Andrei as he turned towards Damyan. He had the same red eyes as Andrei, those red eyes looking Damyan up and down. Damyan couldn't help but notice that like Andrei, the young man had a fang.

"Hi?" Damyan stuck out his free hand. He was pretty freaked out for multiple reasons, but that was no reason to be impolite. "My name's Damyan Nikolov. I moved here pretty recently."

"Hello..." The other shook his hand tentatively, his eyes focused on Damyan's stick. "Nicolae Vladimirescu. Thanks for taking care of my little brother. He wanders around sometimes." Nicolae let go of his hand. He was fidgeting nervously. "So... what are you doing at this part of town? It's not often people willfully crosses over here."

Damyan shrugged. "Everyone keeps telling me not to go here for some reason, so I did the only logical thing and decided to take a look here myself. I don't see what all the fuss is really; the only thing to fear in this place is the fog."

"Yeah... the fog." Nicolae chuckled distractedly. "A-anyways, I should bring you back home. It's a bit hard to see where you're going in this fog."

"Do you have a house? Maybe I could just stay over and I'll head back in the morning when it's clearer."

"No!" Damyan widened his eyes at Nicolae's abrupt answer. "I-it's better this way. Here, just follow me."

Nicolae walked with quick steps, Andrei and Damyan taking up the back. Not even Andrei made a sound as they lead him back to the bridge.

"Thank you Nicolae," Damyan said once he saw the two broken lamplights. Nicolae nodded in acknowledgement.

"Well, I'll be going now. It's past Andrei's bed time and he should really be going to bed."

"Oh wait!" Damyan reached into his pocket and pulled something out. "Aha! I knew something was there!"

Andrei eyed the item curiously. "What's that?"

"You've never seen candy before?"

"Is it good?"

"Here, why don't you have it?" Damyan handed the candy over to Andrei. Nicolae eyed it suspiciously.

"Andrei, you shouldn't take things from stra-"

Andrei ripped open the candy and ate it whole. "It's good!"

"Andrei..."

"I'm sorry brother, but I was hungry..."

Nicolae immediately grabbed Andrei's hand. "Thanks for the candy Damyan, but we have to get going now." He turned his back and started headed towards the fog. "It's best if you don't go here anymore, especially at night. Anytime really, but _especially_ at night."

"Okay." Damyan raised his hand and waved goodbye. Nicolae didn't look back.

'''''''

The next night, Damyan crossed the bridge again. This time, however, there was no fog. _All right, time to go look for a graveyard!_

Damyan turned on his flashlight, the stick he had picked up yesterday on his other hand. Any sane man would have gone during the day, and Damyan would've, except Nicolae had stated that it would be best not to go at night, so naturally he had to.

He looked around as he walked through the path, his eyes peeled for any sign of a graveyard. For a while, nothing but trees filled his vision until he reached a crossroads. The path split into three: forward, left, and right. There was no sign of a signpost and there were only trees on either side of the path, so Damyan was left with memory. _All right, where did Nicolae lead me exactly...?_

Damyan looked up. The moon was shining overhead. _I wonder..._

Praying that his moon placement abilities were accurate, Damyan chose the left path. Dread clutched his chest as he walked on ahead, the unchanging path doing nothing to relieve his anxiety. _Man, this place is the stuff of horror stories... Can't believe I'm saying this, but I could really use that fog now..._

Finally, Damyan found himself standing in front of a gate. He heaved a sigh of relief. _And here I thought I would be walking around forever..._

"What are you doing here?"

Damyan jumped. Nicolae had somehow managed to materialize on the other side of the gate. The strawberry blonde was all but glaring at him, his eyes- and the rest of him- clearly visible against the dark night. "You know, my advice shouldn't be taken lightly around these parts. You're lucky you didn't run into anyone else on your little trip here."

"I doubt this place is as bad as you and everyone else says it is." Damyan frowned. "You seem like a likeable person enough."

"I'm just one of many," Nicolae retorted. "Well, one of the few that live here, but plenty enough."

Damyan shrugged. "Are you going to invite me in? I'd love to see Andrei again."

Nicolae hesitated. Finally, he sighed. "You're interesting," he said as he opened the gate. "And a bit of an idiot at the same time."

"Tell me something I don't know," Damyan replied as he crossed over to the other side. "Like stuff about you."

Nicolae raised his eyebrows. "Why are you interested in me?"

"Why not? A new friend wouldn't be so bad."

Nicolae didn't reply for a while. "Well..." He finally said. "I was born in Romania, but I didn't stick around there for too long. Andrei was born in Moldova."

"What about your parents?" Damyan inquired.

Nicolae smiled sadly. "Our parents didn't stick around for too long either. And before you ask about relatives, we don't have any. Luckily enough, our parents left us with enough to move around, although we didn't really settle until we came along this town. We've stayed in this town longer than anyplace else we've stayed at."

"Why all the moving? And what about child protection services and stuff like that? How'd you guys manage?"

"A little something called magic," Nicolae replied evasively with a cheeky grin. "I'll have you know, I'm secretly a wizard."

Damyan wasn't satisfied with the answer, but he decided to just play along. _No sense pushing him too hard on the first meeting. _"Not so secretly now that you've told me."

Nicolae laughed. "True, true. You know, you're a pretty cool guy Damyan."

"Far from it actually. The only thing I got going for me is that I like anime and yoghurt. Oh, and that if I had to have a weapon of choice, I'd pick a stick."

"I can tell," Nicolae said as he glanced at the stick on Damyan's hand. "But why a stick?"

"Why not?"

"A lot of reasons, although it doesn't matter since I can use magic." This time, Damyan laughed.

"Hey, you're not so bad yourself. I had some second thoughts about you when I first met you, but you're actually a pretty swell guy."

"Thanks." Nicolae sat on a gravestone, crossing his legs contently over the rock. "You know, you have some balls stepping into a graveyard at night."

"I'm more surprised that you didn't tell me that yesterday, what with me going into a place I've never been to before during the night amidst one hell of a thick fog." Damyan leant on the fence next to the gate, not having the heart to lean on a gravestone. "What happened to it anyways? I don't know much about weather, but fogs like that don't just come and go."

Nicolae shrugged. "We have some pretty weird weather," he answered without meeting Damyan's eyes. "Sorry about me being cold yesterday by the way. I was just a bit freaked out."

Damyan nodded sagely. "Nah, it's fine. A man's got a right to be spooked when his little brother goes missing like that."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, that got me worried, Andrei missing like that." The other sighed. "Sorry, I'm not used to interacting with people from the other side before. I've never been over there before, so I'm not sure what to say Hell, I don't even speak to that much people on this side in the first place, let alone someone from the main part of town."

"Now that I think about it, what's with all the separation? You people on this side of the town don't have some deep, dark secret or anything, right?"

"Well-"

"Brother!" All of a sudden, Andrei ran up to them. "You shouldn't wander off like that, we still have to take the- Oh, hi Damyan!" Andrei stopped and smiled at Damyan, although it looked somewhat forced. "You came to visit again!"

"How could I not?" Damyan got off the fence. "I guess I should be going. Sounds like you two need to take your medicine, and from the looks of it, it sounds pretty intense."

"It's not _that _intense." Nicolae rolled his eyes as he got off the gravestone. He paused. "Come visit more often. I know I said yesterday not to come back, but I guess it's okay as long as you come during the day."

"Why during the day?"

"Don't you need sleep?"

Damyan frowned. "Sleep is for the weak."

Nicolae chuckled. "Get some sleep. Plus, it'll save the energy on your batteries."

"Batteri-?" Damyan looked at the flashlight in his hand, which had been on the whole time. He hurried to turn it off. "How about you? Why aren't you sleeping?"

"Because I have to play host to our guest." Nicolae took Andrei's hand. "Anyways, see you later."

"See you."

As they parted ways, Damyan couldn't help but notice how nervous he had looked.

'''''''''

Damyan took Nicolae's advice to heart. While visiting during the day wasn't that bad, it did nothing to satisfy his curiosity as to why it was bad for him to go there at night. The only bright side to visiting during the day was that he got to see Nicolae.

It was fun, having a friend like Nicolae. Since Damyan liked to move around a lot, he never really connected with anyone in the cities and towns he lived in. After their second meeting, Damyan and Nicolae seemed to get along with each other as if they were old friends. Sometimes they would play games (tag was a favorite, although Damyan could never seem to outrun Nicolae) and sometimes they would just talk. They didn't talk about anything special, just things such as where Damyan was from (Bulgaria, although he moved out when he was young), why he had moved to this town (On a whim; he had grown tired of the town he lived in before), if he had any sweets to give to Andrei (He did)... Yet no matter how hard Damyan tried to steer the conversation towards Nicolae, he would always be met by evasion.

"Damyan, are you okay?" Nicolae looked anxiously to the other man. They were sitting on a bench at the far left side of the graveyard with Andrei playing happily in front of them. Damyan did a nodding-like motion.

"I regret asking about the original model for Dracula," Damyan replied as he hugged his knees. "Romanians are scary."

"Eh?! But didn't you say before that I'm pretty okay?!"

"I take that back."

"Meanie," Nicolae pouted as he leaned back. "And here I was going to treat you for some yoghurt later."

Damyan perked up. "At your house?" Despite his many visits to the graveyard, he had yet to go to Nicolae's house. All he knew was that it was the one-story, brick structure over at the right corner of the graveyard with a thatched roof and a chimney.

Nicolae shook his head. "Nah, I meant over at my friend's house

Damyan widened his eyes. "That's a surprise. I thought you didn't talk to people here that much."

"Well yeah, but I still have some friends here and there."

"Excuse me, but are we going over to Mr. Arthur's house?" Both men turned towards Andrei, who had walked up to them. Andrei had a worried expression in his face. "He doesn't like strangers."

"The man needs more friends." But even Nicolae wore an anxious expression on his face. "But you do make a good point, little brother. I doubt Arthur will warm up to Damyan like we have..."

Damyan looked at them, his interest piqued. "I don't think he'll be that bad. I want to meet him- maybe he'll tell me more about you."

"Anything you want to ask him, you can ask me. It's not like I'll lie or anything..." Nicolae said, his voice hurt.

"Oh really?" Damyan put his legs down and leaned forward. "Why won't you let me in your house?"

"It's too soon for that, isn't it?"

"You live in a graveyard, we meet in a graveyard... Wouldn't it make sense for you to invite me in at least once? Do you even plan to?"

Nicolae looked away. "Well..."

"Answer truthfully. You said you would."

"Damyan," Andrei interjected. "Please don't press brother too much. There's... there's some things that we simply won't tell you."

Damyan opened his mouth, only to close it again. He sighed. "Okay, so that's taboo then... Then tell me more about your past. How'd you manage to get by when you were young?"

"It was no easy task, but things got easier after we made our way to this town and ran into Arthur's folks."

"'Made our way'?" Damyan furrowed his eyebrows. "You traveled all the way here?"

Nicolae shrugged, still not meeting Damyan's eyes. "As I said, it was no easy task."

"But where'd you get the money for things like food?"

"We got by." Nicolae fidgeted. "Any more questions?"

"Yeah, just one more." Damyan took a deep breath. "Do you want to go to my house tomorrow?"

"Huh?" Nicolae looked at him, his eyes wide. "Your house? ...At the other side?!"

"Yeah." Damyan smiled. "It seems gloomy to always be in a graveyard, so why not a change of scenery? Plus, you've never been to the main part of town, so why not?"

"That's... that's not a good idea, Damyan."

"Please? I live near the bridge, so it's not like you'll be going anywhere too far."

"Still, I'm not sure..."

"If I may..." Andrei interjected timidly. "I think it should be okay." He looked Nicolae straight in the eyes. "I trust Damyan."

Nicolae hesitated. "Hm... I suppose... Andrei can come too, right?"

"Of course!" Damyan turned towards Andrei. "You okay with that?"

Andrei's eyes were shining. "Yeah! Will there be candy?"

Damyan chuckled. "Yup!" He turned back towards Nicolae. "What time do you want me to pick you guys up?"

"5 am at the gate."

"That's way too early."

"Take it or leave it."

"You're rather demanding you know..."

Nicolae smirked. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me, kid."

"Who're you calling a kid?" Still, Damyan couldn't help but grin. "All right, 4 am it is."

"That's even earlier than what I said!"

"Take it or leave it."

Nicolae smiled grudgingly. "All right, but don't blame me if something happens."

Damyan leaned back, a satisfied grin on his face. "What's the worst that could happen?"

'''''

Damyan yawned. _I just _had _to show up Nicolae by setting up an earlier time... Oh well, it'll all be worth it._ He hoped that Nicolae would be more open if he brought him out of the graveyard. That, and he thought it would be a nice experience for him and Andrei. Nicolae was fun to be around but could be fidgety at times, and Andrei could easily switch from childish to guarded; spending some time away from the graveyard might be good for them.

He made his way towards the gate, which to his surprise, was devoid of people.

"That's cheating." He slumped to the ground next to the gate and sighed. "If they get to sleep in, then I should've too. Man, it was such a stupid idea to go for such an early time..."

Suddenly, something fell on his head. "What the-?" Damyan grabbed the item before it hit the ground. "Yoghurt?"

"I told you I'd treat you to some yoghurt." Damyan looked up to see Nicolae and Andrei standing on the other side of the gate. "And yes, it was a stupid idea. If you were really that tired, you should've gone with 5 like I had originally suggested."

"Doesn't matter now since you two are here." Damyan pulled himself up to his feet and brushed himself off. "So, you two ready leave the graveyard?"

"What am I, five?" Nicolae opened the gate. They started walking, this time Damyan taking the lead.

"But really, the whole time you've lived here, you never bothered crossing the bridge?" Damyan opened the yoghurt and quickly downed it. "How'd you do your grocery shopping then?"

"We get by."

Damyan rolled his eyes as he pocketed the now empty carton. "You must be a great wizard then."

"Wizards can't conjure up food."

"Then what do you eat? Rats? Bones?" An idea popped up in his head. "...Blood?"

"..."

"No way." Damyan stopped in his tracks and turned towards them. Was it just him or were their eyes glowing? "You're not really... You can't be..."

"Damyan," Nicolae's voice was grave. "There's something that I need to tell you."

"W-what is it?"

"I'm actually a vampire."

"Huh?!" Damyan took a step back. "But I've seen you in the sunlight and-!" He stopped once he saw Nicolae smirking. Pause. "You little bastard."

Nicolae's smirk grew. "All right, I lied."

"No, really?"

"I'm actually an incubus."

"I give up." Damyan turned around and started walking, but not before a smile had escaped on his face.

"Oh come on, you had to admit that you completely fell for it."

"Idiot, when you sound as serious as that, who wouldn't? Plus, it would explain the fangs and the red eyes."

"The fangs are just a part of my body."

"And the eyes?"

"Last time I checked, they were part of my body too."

"Just making sure, that's all."

"Brother, what's an incubus?" Andrei, who Damyan had forgotten was there, spoke up.

"Something you don't need to learn until you're older," Damyan answered before Nicolae could. Even without turning back, he could sense Nicolae's surprised gaze.

"Yeah... what Damyan said."

Soon enough, they were in front of the bridge. Damyan turned to the two brothers. "You two ready?"

Nicolae nodded his head. Andrei, on the other hand, looked a little pale, but nodded as well.

"Then let's go."

Damyan was worried Nicolae would give up and go home somewhere along the way, but surprisingly enough, it never came. They managed to cross the bridge without any issues whatsoever.

Nicolae whistled once they crossed. "I've only seen this place from afar... It's a lot quieter than I thought it would be."

"That's because it's like 4 or 5 in the morning; not even the dogs are awake." Damyan started to move on ahead. "All right, we just have to turn left at the end of the road and then take another left at the end of that road and then my house is at the end of the block."

"You're terrible at telling directions, did you know that?"

"Then you best just follow me and then-"

Damyan stopped when he heard a thump behind him. He turned to see Andrei collapsed on the road. "Andrei!" Nicolae bent down and picked him up.

"Is he okay?" Damyan ran up to him and reached to touch Andrei's forehead. He quickly recoiled his hand. "He's ice cold!"

"Crap, I forgot that he hadn't eaten that time... At his state, it would have been dangerous to leave the graveyard..." Nicolae didn't seem to have even Damyan at all. "No wonder he's been consuming so much potion lately... We ran out yesterday though, and I don't have any on me..." He looked sharply up at Damyan. "Do you trust me?"

"Huh?!"

"Never mind!" He grabbed Damyan's hand. Meanwhile, a fog was manifesting around them. "Don't ask any questions, okay?"

"Nicolae, what the hell is ha-?"

White enveloped his vision before he blacked out.

'

"-ppening?!"

Damyan grabbed his throat as he finished his question. He looked around. Trees filled his vision, not even allowing him to see the sky. He didn't even know how to get back, as there was no path whatsoever. Nicolae was at his side carrying Andrei, who seemed to have only gotten even paler. "Nicolae, where are we?"

The other man walked on ahead without giving an answer. Biting his lip, Damyan followed. They only walked a few feet ahead before a large, one-story house came into view. The structure was wooden and ancient, moss covering most of it. Smoke billowed out of the chimney, although it only seemed to lose itself to the canopy above.

Nicolae walked up the front deck stairs and practically punched the door. "Arthur! I need your help!"

A few more bangs and the door suddenly opened. Standing inside the house was a pale man with messy blonde hair wearing a forest green robe. He narrowed his eyes as he looked over Nicolae's shoulders. "You brought a human to my home?"

"No time!" Nicolae thrust Andrei onto the man's arms. "We ran out of the potion and he needs to eat something fast!"

The man, who seemed torn between annoyance and surprise, nodded. "All right, but stay out here. I don't need a human wandering around inside my home, and I certainly don't want him wandering outside alone." He retreated into his home and slammed the door shut, taking Andrei with him. Nicolae slumped to the ground.

"This is all my fault, this is all my fault..." He clutched his head as he repeated the phrase over and over like a mantra.

"Nicolae..." Damyan squatted down and put his hand on Nicolae's shoulders consolingly. "What's going on? That guy, Arthur or whatever... What's wrong with Andrei? If he needed to eat, we could've just gone over to my house and I would've given him some food."

"You don't understand; we don't get our energy from food."

"'We?' Nicolae, what's going on? And what was with that fog earlier?"

Nicolae brought his head up. He held Damyan's gaze for what seemed like days. Finally, he stood up. "All right, pay attention."

Nicolae took a deep breath. Damyan eyed him curiously as he brought his right hand out. His eyes flashed, and suddenly, white mist shot out of his hand.

"What the-?" The white mist kept on shooting out of his hands until Nicolae closed his palm. "What is that?"

"Life essence."

Damyan watched as the white mist took form. They had a vaguely humanoid shape, but whenever he tried to focus on one, it shimmered back into white mist. "The fog..."

Nicolae nodded. "Isn't actually a fog but the life essence of the dead."

Only one thought crossed Damyan's mind. "I've been walking around dead people this whole time?"

"Not dead people, just their life essence." Nicolae scratched his head. "Arthur explained it really well, but I don't quite remember what he had said. It's sort of like the thing inside all humans, even their corpses... Just think souls, but not souls, you know?"

"Uh, no, but I don't think I'll ever understand." Damyan slumped next to the door. "So Andrei... If he's the same as you, then why aren't you collapsing either?"

"The older we are, the longer we can go without life essences. Plus, I fed quite recently." The mist disappeared as Nicolae sat down next to him. "As for Andrei, he collapsed because he ran out of life essence. We 'feed' on life essence, for lack of a better term. We more or less absorb them into our body, and they sustain us until we run out. In turn, we can use them whenever we wish, although that uses them up even faster." He drew up his feet. "That night you found us, we were actually feeding. Andrei must have sensed you amidst the life essences. I had just finished feeding, so I was too busy keeping them inside of me to notice Andrei had disappeared."

"Why couldn't he just feed after I had left?"

"His feed had been disturbed. Once it's disturbed, there's no going back to it until the next feeding time."

"When are your feeding times?"

"We can only feed during the full moon. Something about lunar energy and whatnot, but I don't really get it so I won't try to explain it. Either way, feeding isn't exactly like eating food. Think of it like a LEGO structure, except that every passing moment, a LEGO is taken out. Every full moon, we get rebuilt again." Nicolae buried his head in his arms. "We're not human; we're just a mass of life essences taking on a human shape."

Damyan furrowed his eyebrows. "But then, how were you born? You said you had parents, so..."

Nicolae shrugged. "My dad was like me too. You see, our kind is only male. We reproduce through female humans, but don't ask me how, it's sort of complicated."

"Doesn't that make you half-human then?"

"The only human thing about us is that we have a defined shape and mass. Oh, and that we function like a human in essence, but really aren"

"O...kay." Damyan was confused, but he doubted that he could ever make full sense of what Nicolae was in the first place. "So your dad, your parents... What happened to them?"

Nicolae paused. "We were caught in Romania. Humans had seen us feeding even though we were in a faraway graveyard. We had to leave. Andrei was born while we were in Moldova, but my mom died of childbirth. My dad refused to feed afterwards, so..."

"I'm sorry..."

"There's nothing to apologize for. That's just life." Nicolae looked up. "Anyways, once I managed to pull off transportation via life essence, traveling became a piece of cake. We moved around a lot, making sure that we never stayed in the same place for too long, always sticking close to a graveyard. One day, though, we were running out of life essence. Arthur's folks found us and took us under our wing, even helping us learn the language and giving us our current residence at the graveyard. They even put a barrier around the graveyard so that the only people that can come in are people we open the gate for... Doesn't stop the life essences escaping though, hence the fog."

"I'm going on a limb here, but Arthur's not exactly human either, isn't he?"

"What I am is none of your business."

They looked up to see Arthur glaring down at them, green eyes dark. "Nicolae, your brother will be okay as long as he doesn't leave the graveyard. Incidentally, where were you when he collapsed? He should have been fine as long as he didn't leave the graveyard."

"We, err..." Nicolae looked away. "We were going to Damyan's house..."

"Damy-?" Arthur glanced at Damyan. "The other side? Well, that explains why you asked me for yogurt this morning. I knew something was off; your kind doesn't need to eat. You're just lucky that Kiku was able to get one for you." Arthur shook his head. "Never mind that, what the bleeding hell were you doing trying to cross the bridge in the first place? You know the dangers."

"I do..." Nicolae sighed. "Oh and Arthur, we're going to need more of the potion. We ran out yesterday."

"You're lucky I just finished a batch rather recently. At any rate, I'll go bring Andrei out with your potion."

"What's the potion for?" Damyan asked as Arthur closed the door once more.

"It gives us energy, but it isn't life essence. It doesn't give as much as feeding, but we take it so that we don't have to feed as much each month. It's not a good idea to suck a graveyard bone dry."

"Won't it eventually run out though?"

"Humans have a lot of life essences in them. It'll take a while before they run out completely since it regenerates over time as long as the body's still there. We just have to moderate how much we feed."

"Okay, but why a graveyard exactly?"

Nicolae scrunched up his nose. "Feeding from live humans isn't exactly ideal. I doubt a human will stick around for too long if we try to feed on them. It's much easier with a corpse, since they don't have their souls in the way. And before you ask, the soul sort of acts like the thing that makes life essences work. Once a person dies, their soul leaves the body and somehow also leaves behind life essences."

"Sounds complicated..." Damyan leaned back, trying to process all that he had learned. "All right, I have one more question for you: what exactly are you in the first place?"

"There isn't an official name for their kind." Arthur came out of the door yet again, this time with an unconscious Andrei in his arms. Nicolae stood up and took his brother. "But most tend to call his kind 'Legions', since they essentially have a legion of life essences inside of them. At any rate, here are your potions Nicolae."

Arthur stepped aside, allowing a floating sack to make its way towards Nicolae. Damyan snatched the bag mid-air. "It's best if I take it," he explained to Nicolae, who was looking at him in shock. "You're already carrying Andrei."

Nicolae couldn't look more grateful. "Thanks Damyan." He turned towards Arthur. "I'll be taking my leave then."

Arthur frowned. "Be careful."

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of Andrei."

"I wasn't talking about Andrei." Without another word, Arthur closed the door. Damyan gulped.

"You're right; the man really does need more friends."

Nicolae smiled and said nothing as the fog consumed them once more.

''''''

"How's Andrei doing?"

Damyan walked inside as Nicolae held the gate open. "He's doing fine. He wanted to see you too though, especially since I told him that you know we're legions now, but I didn't let him. He's recovering, but I'm not risking him moving too much."

"Did anything happen since yesterday?" Damyan asked as Nicolae closed the door. They started walking, Nicolae in the lead. "I could've stayed and helped you know..."

"It was for the best that you went home. Thanks though, for bringing the potions to the graveyard."

"It wasn't cool to not let me in."

Nicolae shrugged. "It was for the best... I'm more surprised that you actually came back, although you could've visited us during the afternoon you know, versus like 4 in the morning."

"I was worried about you guys, so I wanted to come back as quick as I could." Damyan reached into his pocket. "I even got candy for Andrei. He seems to like the stuff even though he doesn't need it."

Nicolae stopped and looked at Damyan. "You're not scared at all?"

"Me? I'm terrified." Damyan leaned on a gravestone. "But then I look at you and think 'Nah, I know this kid and he won't hurt me at all. He got me yoghurt after all.'"

"That's it?" Nicolae leant on the gravestone next to him. "It's not because of my charming personality or my devilish good looks, but it's because I gave you yoghurt?"

"Pretty much."

"You're unbelievable." Despite his exasperated tone, Nicolae was genuinely smiling. "Hey, let me show you something."

A fog started to manifest in the area in front of Nicolae. Damyan straightened up. "Wait, I don't want you to run out on-"

"Relax, I'm not going to do much."

The fog became smaller and smaller and more compact, until finally, it formed a...

"A stick?" Damyan quirked an eyebrow. No matter how you looked at it, the fog was definitely in the form of a stick. "Why a stick?"

"Wait for it..."

The stick started moving closer and closer to Damyan, until finally-

"What the hell was that for?!" Damyan rubbed the spot where the stick smacked him. Nicolae laughed as the stick dissolved into nothingness.

"You totally fell for it, didn't you?" Nicolae was smirking behind the laughter. "And that was payback for liking me just 'cause I gave you food."

"You little ass, of course I fell for it!" Still, Damyan couldn't help but join in the laughter. "Geez, Arthur's got it mixed up; he should've been warning _me_ to be careful of _you_."

Nicolae instantly quieted down. "Hey, you won't... You won't tell on us, right?"

"Of course not, you're my friend!" Damyan punched the other's shoulder. "I know I haven't known you for that long, but I told you, you're a pretty cool guy. I won't sell you out."

"Don't hate me for this, but that could easily change..."

"Hmm, true, what with you deciding to smack with a stick and all." Damyan put his hand on the other's shoulder. "I won't sell you out. You wanna know why? It's because I'm moving in with you."

"What?!" Nicolae looked at him incredulously. "When did you decide that?!"

"I decided to yesterday when I went back home! C'mon Nicolae, think about it! I spend most of my time here anyways, so why not? I'm just burning cash paying for a place on the side of town I barely spend any time in."

"But wait, what about food? You're _human_, you need food!"

Damyan made a hand motion. "I'll get by. Look, it's a win-win situation, isn't it? You can keep an eye on me and make sure that I don't tell anyone while I get to save money and see your house for the first time. I don't see what's wrong with this arrangement!"

"A lot of things actually." Nicolae let out a reserved sigh. "But I'm not going to change your mind, am I?"

"Nope!"

Nicolae sighed again. "I'll think about it, but you have to tell me the real reason why you want to move in with me and Andrei."

Damyan drummed his fingers on the gravestone. "I don't know really. When someone tells you that they aren't human, most people call the authorities. As you can see, I don't have the same notion. Strangely enough, it just made me want to know you guys more, and staying close is what I think is the best method for that."

"You live close enough."

"Well yeah, but I also want to help you guys. I mean, I know it's partially my fault for Andrei collapsing, but it must be lonely, living in a graveyard with only your brother for company... Seriously, how do you guys not die of boredom?"

"Hey, I'll have you know that I make for great company!" Nicolae shuffled. "But it would be nice to have you around a lot more often. After all, it's a relief that I don't have to hide anything from you anymore now that you know everything. I can show you some more cool tricks I've picked up over the years."

"See? Win-win! Plus, I'm sure Andrei would like the extra company as well!" A thought crossed his mind. "By the way, did you ever ask Andrei why he hadn't told you that he was running out of life essence?"

"Of course! I asked him as soon as he came to." Nicolae hesitated. "He said that it was because he thought Damyan wouldn't do anything to hurt us and that he hadn't seen me this happy in a long time."

"Happy?"

"W-well..." Nicolae refused to meet his eyes. "I guess you can say that I was excited to see your home... I mean, you are the only friend that I talk to on a regular basis."

Damyan blinked. "I feel touched."

"Don't get me wrong!" Nicolae pouted. "I've never properly lived in a town before, and I was curious to see where you lived. I was expecting to see weird stuff there."

"Just how weird do you think I am?"

"A guy who wants to live with supernatural creatures is pretty weird."

"Well, maybe you can find out how much weird stuff I have once I move in," Damyan said simply. "So what's your answer?"

"But..." Nicolae fidgeted once more. "We're not human. Are you sure you're okay with that?"

Damyan grinned. "Legion or not, the way I see it, I just decided to move in with Nicolae and Andrei, two friends who I want to be with. It's as simple as that."

Nicolae snorted. "You really are an interesting idiot."

"Blame my genes. So..." He leaned in closer to the other. "What's your answer?"

Nicolae sighed, a grin making its way up on his mouth. "Fine, but only because I need to keep an eye on you and make sure that you don't sell us out."

"Don't worry, I won't let you down." Damyan thumped him on the shoulder again. "I'll show you that humans aren't so bad."

"I hope not."

"He won't." Both men jumped as Andrei came into view.

"Andrei, what are you doing here?!" Andrei shook his head.

"Any person that gives me candy isn't a bad person."

Despite it all, Damyan chuckled. "You only like me because I gave you food?"

"See." Nicolae crossed his arms. "Now you know how I feel."

"You shouldn't be saying anything Nicolae, you got payback for that." Nicolae chuckled. Andrei watched him curiously.

"Plus, anyone that makes my brother happy is always a good person. It's nice to see my brother relaxing with somebody else for once. I don't think I've ever seen him this happy with someone else before!"

Nicolae reddened. "Okay, Andrei, that's enough, you should really be going back now..."

"No, go on Andrei, I want to hear more of this."

Nicolae punched him on the shoulder. "Jerk."

"If you don't mind me asking, when will Damyan move in with us?" Andrei made his way in between Damyan and Nicolae. Damyan ruffled his hair.

"I spent all of yesterday packing, so maybe today... That is, if your brother agrees to help me move the mortal way."

"The mortal way?"

"Aka, we're walking. It's payback for teleporting me without my permission... Unless of course, you can't carry a couple of boxes."

Nicolae raised his eyebrows. "Is that a challenge?"

Damyan smirked as he stuck a hand out. "Do you accept?"

Nicolae shook his hand heartily. "You're on."

Andrei chuckled. "Told you Damyan was a nice human."

"Yeah." Nicolae ruffled his head. "You sure did."

* * *

_End of part 1_

_Part 2 is 'The Question in the Sky'_


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